The Ugandan bishop who has been attempting to end the conflict between the government and rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is reported to have said that recent atrocities are threatening to overwhelm the peace process.

"More people are suffering because the peaceful means have not been given a chance

Archbishop Odama

Archbishop John Odama was quoted by the French news agency AFP as saying that the escalation of violence means that peace is not being given a chance.

The cleric was refering to the many massacres, ambushes and raids on villages in northern Uganda which have claimed dozens of lives in the last few weeks.

The LRA has been fighting the government for 16 years and says it is seeking to rule Uganda according to the Biblical Ten Commandments.

Meanwhile the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that it urgently needs 18,000 tonnes of food to feed the half a million people displaced by the fighting.

'Suffering'

The bishop expressed his concern after saying that he was waiting for the rebels to name a negotiating team

"More people are suffering because the peaceful means have not been given a chance," he said.

A rare picture of LRA leader Joseph Kony

"The current escalation of violence has shrouded the peace process."

Mgr Odama said on Tuesday that he would send emissaries to talk to the rebels if he did not hear from them.

"After naming their team, the LRA and the government will then agree on the venue, time and agenda of the meeting," he was quoted as saying by the Ugandan newspaper New Vision.

Last week, President Yoweri Musveni appointed two ministers to head the government's negotiating team.

Dozens of civilians have been killed over the past few weeks in a series of massacres which the Ugandan army has blamed on the LRA rebels.

Last week, the army said the rebels were in the process of boiling body parts after an attack on villagers in the Pader district when it launched a counterattack, forcing the rebels into retreat.

President Yoweri Museveni recently said the rebels would be defeated but warned it may take until March next year.

Earlier this year, the Ugandan army pursued LRA forces into Sudan, which had previously backed the rebels, and vowed to crush them once and for all.

But this offensive only pushed the rebels deeper into Ugandan territory.

The LRA frequently abduct civilians, either boys to serve as fighters, or girls as sex slaves for rebel commanders.